It’s time to shop ‘til you drop

Hope A. Smith
Published: March 13, 2008

Shopping - what a wonderful eight-letter word. You know, I hate the stereotype that women are indescribable shoppers and bad drivers. Yet, admittedly, I am the former, but not the latter.

     I'm a great driver, except for the occasional heavy foot. But I do love to shop. The best shopping, though, is not at the high-priced Tysons II stores like Neiman Marcus (a/k/a "Needless Markups") and Saks Fifth Avenue. The best shopping is at TJ Maxx, where you truly get the max for the minimum, and other, brand-specific outlets. How else can an average woman fuel her need for a Coach purse-

Part of the thrill of shopping, however, is not the actual purchase. It's looking for the best bargain. My dad used to say my mom should have a black belt in shopping. You can spot a true shopper by giving them a compliment, followed by "Guess how much I paid for it-" This used to be a game between my parents. Once in a while, my dad would lowball my mom on a price guess. That's no fun.

Some of us are not unlike traditional hunters when it comes to shopping. We get word from another shopping veteran, and it usually starts this way: "You have got to get to Kohl's. They have these great shirts on clearance for $3 each!" We hunters get up the road to Kohl's, sometimes to only find that our size is sold out. At this point, we either give up, or plan a trip to Fredericksburg the next weekend. Yes, I know, the gas money you spend cancels out the money you save on the shirt. But we're on a mission! And isn't the completion of the mission worth that gas money-

Shoe shopping is an entirely different animal. Yes, again, I fall into the stereotype that women love shoes. Lots of shoes. For some of us, DSW Shoe Warehouse (some call it "Dangerous Shoe Warehouse") is our Graceland. It's just aisles and aisles of shoes. Shoes on sale. They have everything from tennis shoes to flats to high heels to sandals. They even have an area, albeit a small one, for men. Gee, who is their target audience- You walk into DSW, and it's like sensory overload. You can almost hear the harps of angels playing. Now that our daughter wears the same size as me, she can join our beloved cult of DSW magnates.

Potomac Mills mall was our destination a few weeks ago. It was a rainy Saturday, and the suggestion was brought up to our daughter that she and I have a "Mommy and Me" day of shopping. Sometimes window shopping can be just as fun, especially in a mall that spans almost a mile and during a rainy day.

Our daughter, Jasmine, has never been to Potomac Mills, and I warned her that we would be walking the entire length of the mall. No biggie, she thought. We walked from Neighborhood One to Neighborhood Five, stopping for lunch at Subway along the way. Oh, yes, it was all fun and laughs, until we started back from Neighborhood Five. By the time we got to Neighborhood Three, I heard the grumblings of, "Mom, where did we park-" I reminded Jasmine that we were parked at Neighborhood One. "Oh, no. All that way-"

Keep in mind, when you're hunting for a bargain, you sometimes have to be wary of the typical brand-name outlets. A lot of times, they'll draw you with the code word "outlet." You have to search, usually starting at the back of the store, for a true bargain. That's why, for some of us, our chosen bargain havens are stores like TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshall's. Kohl's does have some kickin' sales, usually toward the end of the season. Plus, it seems like I pull a Kohl's sale paper out of the Star-Exponent every Wednesday. Culpeper has definitely kicked it up a notch in the world of shopping, though. With our newly-acquired stores like Target and Kohl's, and our beloved Davis Street shops, we hardly ever have to step out of the community. Enjoy, fellow shopaholics.

Hope A. Smith is an
independent columnist and
resident of Orange County.
Her column appears on Friday.
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